Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for allowing me a few minutes to crawl back in from the window ledge to appear before you today.
I'll give you just a bit of background. Drayton Entertainment is an award-winning charitable arts organization that produces professional live theatre at a circuit of seven venues throughout Ontario: the Hamilton Family Theatre Cambridge; the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse and the Schoolhouse Theatre, Kitchener—Conestoga; the Drayton Festival Theatre, Perth—Wellington; two stages at the Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend in Huron—Bruce; and, the King's Wharf Theatre in Penetanguishene, which is in Simcoe North. We also have a centralized production facility and recently announced youth academy in Waterloo.
What began as a relatively community-based volunteer arts organization back in 1991, a grassroots movement 30 years ago in the tiny village of Drayton, Ontario, has become one of the great success stories of Canadian theatre. Back then, there was one employee, a legion of volunteers, a nine-week season and a paid attendance of 14,000, with a modest budget of $99,000. Fast-forward to the 2020 season—the pandemic season—a season that would have consisted of 832 performances throughout the province to a paid attendance of over 275,000, with a $12.5-million budget and an estimated economic impact exceeding $65 million.
Drayton Entertainment now provides over 400 employment contracts to actors, musicians, designers and other creatives, making us one of the largest employers of professional artists in the country. Additionally, we employ upwards of 175 staff and have an active network of 550 volunteers contributing over 30,000 hours annually.
The remarkable thing I would like to note is that since our inception—because I've been here since the inception, and some of my staff would say it's too long—we have received zero operating funds from any level of government or arts councils. Of course, we have benefited from the occasional federal investment in capital infrastructure upgrades or expansions, resulting in a substantial return on investment.
The pandemic has impacted us in many theatres in three noteworthy ways. Firstly, the loss of all programming has caused significant hardships not only for us, but also for our municipality, tourism and hospitality sector partners, who rely on us as a major driver of regional economies.
Secondly, what we do is communal by nature, and this makes recovery a daunting prospect for any business.
Thirdly, despite the lifeline of the emergency wage support and the emergency response benefit, with no revenues to cover our fixed operating costs we've been forced to terminate all artist contracts and lay off the majority of our staff. It pains us to be in this position, of course. Along with our industry colleagues, we've mitigated financial losses, reduced overhead and minimized expenses through every possible means.
As we continue to navigate these challenges, we've identified four support recommendations to the standing committee.
I will start with number one, and that is a fair and transparent application process to access government funds. Criteria should be expanded for any current or future aid programs to include eligibility for those organizations that do not already benefit from annual operating funds from any tier of government. In short, arts organizations like ours should not be overlooked for not being a client of these entities and the subsidies or grants they provide. Earlier this year, the government announced that $55 million was allocated to the Canada Council for the Arts, which opted to disburse to just its current clients, with no opportunity for the rest of us to apply and make a compelling business case for support.
The second recommendation we would have is to top up the wage supports. We would respectfully recommend that the emergency wage subsidy restore the maximum 85% rate for the hardest hit sectors. This would allow us the flexibility we need to bring back workers to position our recovery. Even with the current wage subsidy program, which we are very grateful for, many arts organizations are operating with little to no revenue, unable to sustain the top-up wages or benefits required to retain our teams.
The third recommendation is mitigating fixed costs. Restrictive measures such as operating to a maximum of 50 audience members has the same net effect as a complete shutdown for us. With the new emergency rent subsidy program, there is concern that arts organizations may qualify for only the additional 25% top-up support in the event of a total lockdown, and that's determined by regional health authorities. Expanding this eligibility criteria would greatly benefit a sector whose venues have been largely sitting empty since March.
For our fourth recommendation—my personal favourite—if I were king of the world, I would create an arts recovery incentive fund. As we look to the future, a dollar-matching arts recovery incentive fund similar to the ministry's very successful arts endowment incentives program would enable arts organizations to tap into the philanthropy of our audiences, who would know that their gifts would be matched by the Government of Canada. I just believe all stakeholders would feel they have so-called “skin in the game” when it comes to recovery.
In closing, Mr. Chair, on a personal note, other than our industry's staggering financial losses, the mental health of our members is of utmost importance. A professional musician I spoke to recently said with tears in his eyes that being a musician is all he's ever done in his life. An actress, who has the weight of the world on her shoulder, said that she's trained for this all her life, but now wonders whether it's time to leave the business.
We need the creative sector. COVID-19 has been devastating to our emotional well-being.
Charlie Chaplin once said that he likes to walk in the rain, so that no one can see his tears. I hope you can see us through the rain right now because we can certainly use your help.
Thank you very much.